The Effects of mother tongue-based multilingual education on the English literacy of children in Silang, Philippines

Education is vital for success in life. Globalization, however, has changed the trend so that mere education is becoming insufficient. English proficiency has become equally vital for success in the global arena. With the implementation of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in the Philippines, the English literacy development of Filipinos may be adversely affected. This paper, therefore, examined the effects of MTB-MLE on the English literacy development of Filipino children. In this experimental study, the same pre-tests and post-tests were administered to two groups of 68 students from a public elementary school in Silang, Philippines. One group was taught in the mother tongue while the other group in English. Test results were analyzed using t-test through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) package. Results showed that children taught in the mother tongue demonstrated a decline in English literacy level, confirming certain language acquisition theories and fears of some scholars. This paper ends with recommendations for further study and recommendations to policymakers.